According to SESAC, one of the three big Performing Rights Organizations (PRO) in the US, “Anyone who plays copyrighted music in a public establishment is required to obtain advanced permission from the copyright owner, or their representative.” A PRO, sometimes referred to as Performing Rights Society (PRS), is a licensing agent for songwriters and their music publishing companies, and it coordinates royalties for the appropriate parties. (Amazingly, “SESAC” is not an acronym—the name doesn't stand for anything.)

However, the responsibility for procuring this license usually falls on the venue or organization hosting the band. Owners of performance venues purchase license agreements from one or all of the big PROs. In addition to SESAC, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) also coordinate performance licensing for such venues.

So, if you perform cover songs at weddings or nightclubs, the venue would need to have the appropriate licensing agreement or face legal exposure. (The same obviously goes for venues hosting tribute bands—bands that cover many songs by the same bands.)

Each of the three PROs covers certain artists, so the entity one goes to depends on the songs being performed. Many locations get performance rights from more than one PRO, as artists whose work might be performed are covered by different licensing agents.

The rates a venue can expect to pay for performance rights can vary: costs depend on type of venue, type of performance, frequency of performances, entrance fees, and other factors. Certain venues are exempt from royalty requirements altogether: churches and other places of worship often qualify for exemption, as can non-profit educational venues (so long as the songs are part of an in-person teaching activity). Anyone considering whether a performance will be exempt should check with the appropriate PRO in advance.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Would love to see him do an Arrival full setlist start to finish. He sounded great and his song Live and Breathe is awesome. Sadly, even for Journey itself, everyone wants to hear the "hits".

Just wish they would have let him heal and take time off. But the Journey machine was in high tilt. This whole Journey Schon vs Cain thing is the best thing that could ever happen for Arnel. Get off the Journey train and take some time off.

a man, well, he'll walk right into hell with both eyes open. But even the devil can't fool a dog!"

I'm going to schedule a hearing test for this upcoming week. Cause I sure as hell ain't hearing what you all are hearing. Sorry, but these do not sound good to me. But I'll hand it to him for staying out there and doing his thing. I hope he does well.

Memorex wrote:I'm going to schedule a hearing test for this upcoming week. Cause I sure as hell ain't hearing what you all are hearing. Sorry, but these do not sound good to me. But I'll hand it to him for staying out there and doing his thing. I hope he does well.

He does some songs (like Stone in Live) better than others. I'd see him in a heartbeat.

"I think we should all sue this women for depriving us of our God given right to go down with a clear mind, and good thoughts." - Stu, Consumate Pussy Eater

Memorex wrote:I'm going to schedule a hearing test for this upcoming week. Cause I sure as hell ain't hearing what you all are hearing. Sorry, but these do not sound good to me. But I'll hand it to him for staying out there and doing his thing. I hope he does well.

I agree with you. What does everyone hear that we don't. Must be loosing our hearing. I hear the faint whispers of something but not much. He is struggling. I will take a phenomenal singer like Arnel any day over him. I couldn't even listen to the rest of the 1st one without wanting to put cotton in my ears.

Saw him in Woodstock ct in Sept coming off rock pack show His voice seemed to warm up after a few songs was nice to see the cover songsBig e sun show was really good He spent about an hour or so signing autographs and taking photosWith everyone really genuine humble guyI have videos unfortunately I don't post to YouTube and mine are really amateuryou

I'm sorry, nothing against SA, but those renditions are really bad. I just don't understand why he's out there singing old Journey songs that is obviously out of his range. I mean, there is a reason why SP won't attempt them anymore.

Good for SA to be still singing and performing, but (imo) he should stick to his own songs.

annie89509 wrote:I'm sorry, nothing against SA, but those renditions are really bad. I just don't understand why he's out there singing old Journey songs that is obviously out of his range. I mean, there is a reason why SP won't attempt them anymore.

Good for SA to be still singing and performing, but (imo) he should stick to his own songs.

Agreed. Although possibly no one would show up if he didn't sing the songs people want to hear. Still, I find them painful to listen to.

The injury that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance. Steve Perry

annie89509 wrote:I'm sorry, nothing against SA, but those renditions are really bad. I just don't understand why he's out there singing old Journey songs that is obviously out of his range. I mean, there is a reason why SP won't attempt them anymore.

Good for SA to be still singing and performing, but (imo) he should stick to his own songs.

Agreed. Although possibly no one would show up if he didn't sing the songs people want to hear. Still, I find them painful to listen to.

yes, I agree with you, pf61, but is it really better for people to show up and be embarrassed for him? There are dozens of Journey cover bands with the lead singer doing much better jobs with those songs.

SA fans will show up regardless of which songs he chooses to sing. Hardcore Journey fans will feel sorry for him. Casual J fans will laugh at him. Either way, no benefit for him to sing those songs (originated by SP). That is, unless he really wants to sing those songs to look bad.

And so we are agreed. SA should stick to singing his own music, which he does well, and leave the Journey songs out of his set list. If this causes some people to stay away, then that's fine...they wouldn't have been happy hearing him singing them anyway.

The injury that we do to a man must be such that we need not fear his vengeance. Steve Perry

The reality is that regardless to whether he sounds good or not, the people booking him to perform want him to sing the Journey catalog... They aren't and WON'T book him to sing Tall Stories, Tyketto, and SA solo material. If he's not doing Journey, they don't want him, end of story.

Augeri is a real nice guy and he is certainly as humble as Arnel is.Despite some controversy during his tenure he has earned the right to ride those coattails to oblivion.Love his latest original songwriting.